May 26, 2005

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[edit] May 26, 2005 (Thursday)

• Elections in Suriname: Preliminary results show Suriname's ruling coalition survived an election challenge from former dictator Dési Bouterse in this former Dutch colony. (Guardian Unlimited)
• Conflict in Iraq: Two US Soldiers are killed as a helicopter is shot down near Baquba, North of Baghdad. (BBC)
• A coalition of citizen groups will ask United States Congress to file a formal "Resolution of Inquiry", the first necessary legal step to determine whether U.S. President George W. Bush has committed impeachable offenses. The request, written by Boston constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz, cites the Downing Street memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. (Raw Story)
• The South African Geographical Names Council unanimously approves a recommendation to change the name of the country's executive capital Pretoria to Tshwane. (BBC)
• U.S. President George W. Bush has promised the President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, $50 million in aid and reiterated that Israel was to stop all settlement activity on the West Bank. (BBC)
• The British Association of University Teachers decides to cancel the boycott on Israeli Universities of Haifa and Bar-Ilan. The decision comes in a special meeting after both external and internal debate over the original decision.(BBC), (The Guardian)
• British Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy calls for a reform of the UK voting system after Labour took the majority of the seats in the UK election with just 35% of the votes. (The Independent)
• British Foreign Minister Jack Straw announces that Iran has renewed its promise to refrain from developing nuclear weapons, and talks on its atomic program will continue following a meeting between Iranian nuclear officials and European Union ministers in Geneva. (VOA News), (BBC)
• In Thailand, police officer Somchai Visetsingha is sentenced to a life in prison for murder of two British backpackers in 2004. (MCOT) (BBC) (Reuters)
• A flash flood strikes São Paulo, Brazil. (BBC)
• French official Pascal Lamy, former trade commissioner for European Union, is expected to be appointed as ahead of the World Trade Organization. He will assume the post in September. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Australia observes the National Sorry Day as a way to remember the Stolen Generation of Indigenous Australians. (National Indigenous Times) (ABC AU) (Radio Australia)
• India and Pakistan begin talks to resolve a military stand-off on the Siachen glacier. (Hindu.com) (Pakistan Dawn) (Reuters)
• In New York City, United States, attorney general charges insurance company American International Group and two of its former executives for fraud and manipulating the accounts (New York Times) (Businessweek) (Forbes) (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
• Spanish court imprisons Arnaldo Otegi, head of Herri Batasuna party in the Basque region for having links to ETA. Batasuna claims that the move undermines peace efforts. Otegi is in prison pending ?400.000 bail. (EITB) (Reuters AlertNet)
• French authorities arrest Chechen named Bislan Ismailov suspected for complicity in the murder of Theo van Gogh (Expatica) (Reuters)
• In Egypt, referendum favours constitutional changes for presidential elections witn 83% in favor (Al-Jazeera) (BBC)
• The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate approved a bill to create a $140 billion trust fund for the payment of asbestos-related claims. The bill now goes to the Senate floor, no analogous bill is yet before the House of Representatives. (Investors Business Daily)
• In Tennessee, five members of the state legislature are arrested on federal bribery charges in Operation Tennessee Waltz.